Innovation in education

Workshop on Developing Sustainable University-Industry Relations

The experience of Russian and foreign universities in technology commercialisation will be the subject of discussions in Saratov on 14-15 November 2005. These discussions will build on the results of past workshops (Moscow 2002, Ekaterinburg 2003 and St. Petersburg 2004) and will involve participants from the OECD, CRDF, the Russian Ministry for Education and Science, OECD member governments and a number of Russian and non-Russian universities. The Saratove State University will be hosting this year's workshop. Discussions will focus on the development of sustainable relations between university and industry and draw on Russian, American and European experiences.

Ms. Ellen Hazelkorn, Director and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland, will elaborate on the Irish model of governemnt / university / industry involvement.

Mr. Bernard Nieuwendijk from the Dutch Institute of Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship NIKOS at the University of Twente will elaborate on the Dutch experience in this field but also give an interview on a current Dutch – Russian project on "Knowledge circulations" to be carried out 2005 - 2007.

There will be further input from representatives of the CRDF, the Russian Ministry of Education and several Russian universities.

Background and objective of the overall project on intellectual property

The impetus for the co-operation between the OECD and the Russian Ministry of Education in examining policies for commercialising intellectual property at Russian universities came about as one of the results of the OECD Reviews of National Policies for Education: Tertiary Education and Research Policy in the Russian Federation. The review team concluded:

1. That the development of the university-industry interface is of vital importance for the future development of the Russian economy; 2. That the basis of a new tradition of a university-industry relationship needs to be nurtured; 3. Technology transfer and commercialisation of scientific results should become an important priority for Russian Higher Education Institutions 4. Many Higher Education Institutions do not have pro-active policies with respect to applied research and technology transfer

In consultation with the Russian Ministry of Education, the OECD followed up on the conclusions of the reviews and established pilot projects at three Russian universities (St. Petersburg State University, Saratov State Technical University and Ural State Technical university). These pilot projects aimed to develop university technology management practices for intellectual property, a key foundation for any university-industry interface.

A first roundtable discussion in Moscow in 2002 identified a series of key issues which face Russian universities in establishing successful Technology Transfer Organisations. Participants at a meeting in Ekaterinburg (2003) discussed ministry and university policies to identify adequate organisational models for operating sustainable Technology Transfer Organisations. Finally, the meeting in St. Petersburg in 2004 concentrated on financing university technology transfer.